Before Joining the Air Force
The Air Force is probably the most difficult branch of the military to get accepted into. Whereas other branches will accept someone who does not have a high school diploma, the Air Force requires that you have one. They also are very picky about the integrity of the person that they allow to come into their branch. Recruiters may not always tell you until you are far along in the process, but you must go through a lot more to join the ranks of the Air Force airmen than other branches. For example, the Army and Marines will take virtually anyone who signs up, and they don't do as extensive of a background check, the Air Force will check on everything they can, even when you were a minor.
One of the main reasons for this is because the Air Force has a lot more technical career opportunities. When you join the Army or Marines, you will almost always be sent to a place where you or your unit will see action. The Air Force has a lot of intelligence career positions that may be kept here in the United States (or "stateside" as it is called in the military lingo). I will discuss later on that there is virtually no job that is promised to stay in the United States, but the Air Force comes closer to offering this than any other branch.
A lot of new recruits don't know this, but if you don't select a career to go into, you will more than likely be put into Security Forces (which is basically a cop) and because of this, you must pass all criminal background checks. You could pass the highest intelligence test available, but if you committed (for example) a shoplifting when you were 16, you will be denied this career choice. Security Forces has an "important sounding name," but what you will be doing with this career choice is law enforcement and security.
If you don't select a career field and are put into "open general," you will be put into a career field that is most needed at the time. Security Forces are always needed and this is why you will have a more than likely chance of being put into this field. Recruiters rarely tell you this. Another thing that recruiters don't tell you is that for a lot of careers, there are only a few openings available and you may have to wait a long time for there to be a job opening for this career. You could wait as long as 6-9 months to be accepted into the field that you desire. Do NOT accept the offer to go in as "open general" if you don't want to be a cop. Open General is something that recruiters will always try to get you sign up for because there are always a lot of jobs that are less than desirable that they will try to stick you into. I would encourage anyone to choose their career field as if they were choosing a college, because this is what you will be doing for the next 4 years.
Don't let your anxiousness to get into the Air Force trick your mind into accepting the "open general" career field. There are a lot of good technical careers in the Air Force and you should think about what you want to do when you get out. You will be in the Air Force for four, six or twenty years. Choose a job that will convert to the civilian life easily so that you can find a great job once you get out. Don't believe any recruiter that tells you that theAir Forcedoesn't deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. There is no career in any branch that doesn't have the possibility of deploying either now or in the future.
If a recruiter tells you this, make sure that you ask them to show you a guarantee for this. Unless it's something that is newer than the writing of this article, the recruiter is not correct in telling you this. The Air Force basic training is by far the easiest of all of the branches to get through. While the Army and Marines will have you losing sleep and experiencing extreme exhaustion, the Air Force will make sure that you have 8 hours of sleep and 3 meals a day. They do give you more to read and study than the other branches, but I'd trade studying a lot with 8 hours of sleep and 3 meals a day anytime for no sleep and less food.
The Air Force is probably the finest branch of the military to get into, and they have some of the finest Americans working with them. Your choice ultimately depends on what you want to do in the long run, but unless you are dying to be a soldier on the front lines, or a military sniper, you will most likely be able to find a job in the Air Force that suits you.
